North American Union
The North American Union (or NAU) was a political and economic union of nations located primarily in North America. It was founded on April 9, 1994 with help from the Romans and Arameans in response to the collapse of North America's dominant power, the United States of America, which created a multitude of successor states. The purpose of the Union was to ensure that the old economic, political and cultural framework of North America could be preserved as much as possible, but sovereignty disputes- both between nations and between the nations and the NAU as a whole- disparities in the wealth of member nations and the meddling of Rome and Aram in NAU affairs have meant that the NAU is still far from being a smoothly-run entity. In 2017, following the collapse of Aram, Iceland took over in assisting Rome in administering the Union. In 2018, it was reconstituted as the Imperium Romanum Borealis ("Northern Roman Empire") under the administration of Empress Eva Avita (formerly the North American Prefect), and based in Dallas, Texas, but the rise of The Virus has limited her actual control to the Gulf Coast region. Governance The NAU is administered by the Union Congress, which sits in Washington, DC in what is left of the United States of America. The Congress is divided into two levels: the lower level is the House of Representatives, with the higher level being the House of Lieutenants, administered by the President. Sitting at the top of both levels of Congress is the President, who serves as the NAU's ultimate executive and its chief administrator. The President has ultimate authority to veto any legislation passed by the lower levels of Congress, but his ability to pass laws unilaterally is restricted only to a select few functions, almost all of which pertain to "conditions of national emergency" (a measure that must be passed by Congress first). The President is elected via the electoral college, where each member of the Union is given a certain amount of "electors". This is roughly based on each state's population, although given their status as separate signatories of the Treaty of Buffalo, Quebec and New York are given more electors. The electors' vote is determined on a state by state basis, with each state holding a direct popular vote with the winning candidate claiming their state's slate of electors. The President is elected to an eight year term, and, as bound by the North American Constitution, no President can serve a second term.The Presidential candidates come one each from registered political parties, with the two most popular parties being the Unionist Party (also known as the POP, short for "People's Official Party") and the Federalist Party. A third party, the American Party, rose during the 2016 election and will send candidates for Congress and President. Each party selects their candidate based on a state-by-state nomination process that essentially works like the electoral college, with some differences. To be elected President, one has to be of at least 35 years of age and born in NAU territory or in a territory the Republic of Canada, the USA, the Republic of California, Deseret or Northern Mexico held on January 9, 1990, the beginning of World War III. No one currently sitting as a member of a state's government may run for President or Congress, they must resign their seat or be at the end of their terms before they can enter the primaries for both contests. Below the President is the House of Lieutenants and the House of Representatives. Members of both houses may propose legislation, but for any law to pass, it must pass via majority vote in both houses before the proposed law can be passed on to the President. The Representatives are all elected, while the Lieutenants are appointed by the member states. There are 251 Representatives, each of which represent their own Congressional district (the borders of which are set by each state), with each state given the same number of Representatives as the amount of Presidential electors they receive. The Representatives are selected via a popular vote in their district, with the winning candidate being awarded the position. Balancing the Representatives are the Lieutenants, of which there are 46 members, two for each state. All of the Lieutenants are appointed by the state and serve for as long as the state permits them to serve, meaning many serve for life. Effectively, Congress serves as solely as a place of "dispute resolution" between member states, drafting legally-binding resolutions that outline the agreement the disputers had reached, with Congress rarely enacting laws on its own. This is because Congress' powers are severely curtailed by the Constitution (backed by the Romans), which aimed to protect the sovereignty of the new states as much as possible, although Congress does have the ability to administer continent-wide functions such as the Interstate highway system. Law Enforcement and Military As per the Treaty of Buffalo, the NAU's main law enforcement body is the is the Roman Commonwealth Marquee Patrol (RCMP), affiliated with the Mundiali, who have their headquarters in Buffalo. Affiliated with the RCMP are the New York Imperial Police (NYIP) who operate in New York, and the California Bureau of Investigation, who operate in Pueblo. The Treaty also created a united North American Army, drawn from recruits across the continent and with each of the seven state coalitions having important positions within its command structure. The Romans, though, continue to have their own troops across the continent, with the Treaty maintaining Roman primacy in all state coalitions. State Coalitions On October 18, 2016, the NAU Charter was revised to better reflect the Union's geopolitical reality, based on events on the ground and within the scope of the Treaty of Buffalo. Though the Union's states remained independent, each state got placed into different groups outlining which "sphere of influence" (or "coalitions") it belonged to, indicating which foreign powers (if any) were allowed to place government and military officials in their country. These coalitions (grouped in order of admittance into the Treaty of Buffalo) are: Canada A charter signatory to the Treaty, these are the states- mostly to North America's north- that fall under an effective protectorate of Rome. The states all retained their functional independence and can even engage in foreign affairs if they see fit, but their militaries are heavily stocked and subsidized by the Romans, with, in some cases, the Roman legions being the country's entire military. As outlined in the Twelve Tables, Canada is a part of the Roman Commonwealth, meaning the coalition's head of state is the Caesar who is represented in the polity by a Prefect, who can remove a sitting government under certain conditions. The strongest economy within the Federation is the Halifax Republic- formerly the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia- on the East Coast. It is centred around Halifax (hence the name) and is economically prosperous, owing its revenues to fisheries and tourism. The Republic's government is styled very similarly to the Roman Republic and Halifax and Rome are very closely aligned. Carolina Main article: Carolina The Carolinian Empire (also known as the "Federated States of America") is a charter signatory to the Treaty. It is the only state that predates the Union, as it escaped World War III relatively unscathed. It is an Evangelical Christian theocracy, with the Bishop of Atlanta formally crowning the Emperor. The country is known for its religious bent as well as the legacy of championing slavery. Although Carolina banned slavery in all forms in 1977, the Jim Crow laws serve as an effective continuance, as they ensure that only Carolina's British ethnic majority retained its social and economic advantages. New York Main article: New York The New Yorker Empire is an independent and charter signatory of the Treaty of Buffalo. They are officially allied with Rome but New York has raised its own military and handles its own government administration, including foreign affairs. It has risen to one of the most powerful states within North America, and has become influential worldwide, as it is the only state to hold territory outside of the continent having annexed the Maldive Islands. Ontario Main article: Ontario The Ontarian Empire is a charter signatory of the Treaty of Buffalo. They are officially unaligned, having done so following the NAU's reorganization in October 2016. Internationally, Ontario is considered a "rogue" state, as the Ontarian Emperor- who is unnamed- wields tight control over all information that is released and thus there is very little known about the Empire that is not government propaganda. Roman Columbia Main article: Roman Republic This is the only area directly administered by the Roman Empire within the NAU, as it falls under the jurisdiction of the Roman Senate. Officially, it is a separate Roman province, but because it is administered by the Senate, it is grouped among the territories more commonly referred to as the Roman Republic. Although it is a member of the NAU, unlike other member states, a visa is required for entry into the territory, and is the only state that falls completely within Roman legal jurisdiction. It is the smallest of the coalitions, but, as it contains the NAU's effective capital of Buffalo, it is considered the most important. Utah The successor to the nation of Deseret, Utah is a charter signatory of the Treaty. They are officially a secular state that grants equal and fundamental rights to all of its citizens, but their politics and cultural practices are highly influenced by the state's predominant peoples, the Mormons. Thus, they are highly socially conservative, even by Virtue's standards, though the practice of polygamy is legal and widely practiced. The Ute people are the other politically dominant group in the state, managing to preserve their own culture despite the Mormon dominance, although many Utes feel that since Utah is more of a "Mormon state" it should use the Mormon name, not the Utes' tribal name. Officially, the state is aligned with Virtue. Quebec Main article: Quebec Quebec is also an independent signatory of the Treaty of Buffalo. Long having a disdain with Roman rule, Quebec invoked its rights under the NAU charter to leave and join Virtue, but several hurdles precipitated the October 18, 2016 NAU charter revamp that allowed the nation to join Virtue but remain within the NAU, which its populace wanted. Since the collapse of France, Quebec has become the primary source and promoter of French culture, and thus it has become an influential nation worldwide. Pueblo The Confederation of Pueblo is an economic union of several thousand walled city-states known as "pueblos". An independent signatory of the Treaty, the Confederation is dominated by the politics of the Native American groups who inhabit the region, with each pueblo essentially following the laws and the customs of the dominant Native American tribe in that area (although the Confederation has a Constitution that treats all equally and guarantees them basic rights). Because of its status as an independent Native American state, it is highly influential in Native affairs, often serving as the "voice" of the Natives on the worldwide scale. The Pueblans are officially unaligned globally, although their communal spirit and their reputation as skilled warriors tends to gravitate them towards Rome, who share many similar traits. Coloradan Empire The Coloradan Empire- or simply Colorado- was established shortly after the Icelanders took over the American Confederacy. It sprawls over the North American heartland and has become economically prosperous following heavy investments by Icelandic and Roman interests. Though the state claims to be independent, functionally it is a colony of Iceland, who appoint the territory's Emperor and have veto power over the Empire's laws along with the power to unilaterally impose laws on Colorado themselves. History For more information, see North American history. The North American Union was founded on April 9, 1994 by Rome and Aram. It had a tumultuous history as regional differences meant few compromises could be reached. It eventually dissolved and became the American Confederacy in 2017 before the Icelanders (with the help of Rome) restored the Union in 2018 following the Icelandic takeover of America. Member States See also * The Milner Report * The Virus * Juan Castro * Emeldic people * Irish Americans Category:Nations of Vicendum Category:Political Unions of Vicendum Category:Economic Unions of Vicendum Category:Rome Category:Virtue Federation